Death is Only the Beginning
by Kanna37
Summary: Sequel to Shangri-La. Kagome's POV of her death and the joyful realization that she and her beloved Inuyasha would truly be together - forever.


**Death is Only the Beginning**

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

This one-shot is a sequel to my one shot, Shangri-La. You'll understand this one a little easier if you read that one first.

~oOo~

The day death decided to come for me was a bleak, gloomy day, perfectly suited to the pain and panic I felt at being torn away from my husband. Even after over ninety years together I wasn't ready to let him go – I never would be, either, and I was terrified as my eyes finally fell closed – I fought it as hard as I could, but there wasn't anything I could do and eventually, despite my best efforts, I passed on and my physical eyes fell closed for the last time.

The funny thing was that death didn't look all that different from life – except that my hanyou wasn't with me, he was crouched over my body howling out his grief into the uncaring and unresponsive skies. That was the other reason I was terrified – I couldn't bear to see his grief and know that I had left him, just as everyone else in his life had. His father, dying before Inuyasha could have even had a chance to know him, his mother, when my beloved was still far too young, even Miroku and Sango had by now passed on. No, he wasn't truly alone as he had been once, there were still our children and their families, but I knew my Inuyasha. Just like he'd always said, I was the only thing he couldn't live without.

Despite the fact that his howling was breaking my already breaking heart even further, as I began to feel the pull away from the scene of him holding me with such an anguished expression I fought it, unwilling to let all I had left of him go. Determined to stay right by his side forever, even if he couldn't see me, I rounded on the presence I could feel behind me, prepared to give it a piece of my mind; however, what I was expecting to see was _not_ what I _was_ seeing. I blinked, staring at the oddest looking being I'd ever seen – and with the way my life had been, that was really saying something – and then blurted almost accusingly, "You're not one of the messengers of the underworld! I've seen them enough to know!"

The being, who I was just going to think of as female, since it was easier, laughed merrily and shook her head. "No, you are right – I'm not one of those messengers. I'm a different sort of messenger altogether."

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. "If you aren't here to take me to hell, then why _are_ you here?"

"I'm here to take you to a very different sort of place," she answered immediately; I was so wrapped up in this little mystery that I didn't even notice that we'd been moving until I looked behind me and could no longer see Inuyasha.

That was _not_ acceptable to me and I looked over at the being and snapped, "What's your name, anyway?" with what Inuyasha liked to called my 'mulish, stubborn wench' expression. I stopped and refused to move another inch without my hanyou, no matter who this person was - I fully intended on following Inuyasha around until he died and could join me on this side. _How long do hanyou live, anyway?_ Funny how I'd never thought to ask that while I was still alive...

"My name is *Hogosha," the being grinned engagingly, pulling a reluctant smile from me – I never had been able to resist someone smiling at me, especially when it was a true smile, one that came from their heart. "And before you ask, I am taking you to a place that only I and the kami – well, and those who live within it confines, of course – know about."

My face got mulish again and my bottom lip poked out – so much for her wide smile and my previous response to it. "I'm not leaving him! I refuse!"

Hogosha chuckled. "If you could be persuaded to leave him we would not even be meeting," she replied. "Death really is only the beginning, Kagome, especially for those bound as you two are." She smiled kindly at my still suspicious expression. "The place that I guide those who have been judged inseparable is simply known as the crossroads, where they await the coming of their other half. Once reunited, their destination appears before them. In most cases the wait for the other half of the pair is brief, though for some it is... _extended_ somewhat for reasons that cannot be helped."

Hogosha's words became solemn on the last few words, and I couldn't help but to shiver; I'd caught the gist of what she was saying and I could hardly wait to see my hanyou again. But that last bit... it sounded like a warning...

_Oh, gods... Inuyasha's a hanyou... with a long, long lifespan! He barely looks a year older than he did back during the hunt for Naraku... and it's been a hundred years or so!_

Dejected, my shoulders slumped. "I'm gonna have to wait a long time, aren't I?" I whimpered.

My 'guide' shook her head, smile widening again. "No. Inuyasha will be here very shortly, as a matter of fact; my words were in reference to someone else and certain very specific circumstances. But I will let them tell you the story – it's about time for me to go fetch your husband, my dear..." she trailed off for a moment as she turned away - and then finished...

"... and be forever welcome to Shangri-La."

My eyes widened at the words as well as who was revealed approaching me, and suddenly I knew exactly what Hogosha had been speaking of – as well as the joy my beloved Inuyasha would be receiving once he arrived.

It was about time; as far as I'm concerned no one deserves happiness more than Inuyasha. As the Inu no Taisho and a woman who could only be my hanyou's mother strolled towards me with welcoming and surprisingly affectionate smiles, I knew that joyful was what he was going to be very shortly, and I could hardly wait to see his beautiful face light up.

I beamed back and stepped forward to meet my husband's parents, with the truism 'death is only the beginning' still ringing in my ears and happiness flooding my entire being at the truth of it as Inuyasha's aura burst into vivid life around me.

_Yes... death is simply the beginning..._

_Of forever._

~oOo~

A/N: Okay, so here's the deal. I was rereading over my one shot Shangri-La, written in Inuyasha's POV, and all of a sudden I was hearing Kagome telling _her_ side of that little story. And so... here it is in her own words. Had to get one last story in for 2013!

Amber


End file.
